Outward remittance for training, seminar and workshop abroad now comes under restrictions meant for mitigating pressure on Bangladesh's foreign-exchange reserves, officials say.
All authorized dealer (AD) banks have been instructed to refrain from release of foreign exchange on account of registration/participation fee for attending training, seminar, and workshop abroad, according to a notification issued Sunday by the Bangladesh Bank (BB).
The restrictions are also applicable to officials of banks and financial institutions, it says.
"We've imposed restrictions on outward remittances for the purposes in line with the government notifications on limiting travels abroad," a senior BB official told the FE while replying to a query.
Employees of all the scheduled banks cannot travel personally in addition to participation in workshop/seminar/study tour abroad on the same ground until further order is issued, the BB said in another notification.
Earlier on May 16, the government issued a notification banning foreign tours by spending money from both development-and operating-budget allocations.
Issuing the notification on the day the ministry of finance had cited post-pandemic economic recovery and present global crisis as the reasons for the measure.
"… all types of exposure visit/study tour/ travel under APA and innovation and participation in workshop/seminar will remain suspended until a new order is issued," the notification says.
The government on May 12 had temporarily banned unnecessary foreign tours for its employees as an austerity measure to contain foreign-currency spending.
The latest government moves to check reverse remittance come against the backdrop of falling trend in the country's forex reserves in recent months following lower flow of inward remittances and higher import-payment pressure on the economy.
The reserves fell to $41.95 billion on May 11 after a payment worth $2.24 billion to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) against the imports of March-April period of 2022 from $44.11 billion of the previous working day.
Bangladesh's forex reserves had surged to $48.04 billion on August 24 last calendar year, setting a new record, from $46.58 billion of the previous working day. The rise was after receiving $1.45 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as general allocation of Special Drawing Right (SDR).
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